The ninth day of the twelfth lunar month is the birthday of the Empress Dowager.
Emperor Hongzhi, who was always diligent in political affairs, rarely ordered all civil and military officials to take a day off to celebrate the birthday of the Empress Dowager.
As early as yesterday, Zhu Xiurong was taken to the palace by Queen Zhang.
So early in the morning when it was still dark, Chen Ziyu got up from the kang alone. After washing himself, he put on his unicorn suit and walked out of the house.
He planned to go directly to Zhan Shifu to meet Zhu Houzhao, and then they would go to Cining Palace to pay their birthdays together at Chen time.
According to the chronological order of birthday greetings, under normal circumstances, officials below the third rank are not qualified to meet the Queen Mother directly. Officials above the third rank and the wife of the family can only offer congratulatory gifts to the Queen Mother at noon.
As for those princes and relatives of Lao Zhu's family, they will arrange to meet at Chenshi, which is around eight or nine in the morning.
Although the time difference is only a few hours, it is very important!
Since Emperor Hongzhi had few heirs, it was not surprising that Crown Prince Zhu Houzhao and Princess Zhu Xiurong of Taikang came together to pay homage to her birthday.
However, the Empress Dowager emphasized in her edict that if Chen Ziyu and Zhu Xiurong were to follow the Crown Prince Zhu Houzhao to pay homage to him, the complexity involved would be too great!
It stands to reason that as a great-grandson-in-law, Chen Ziyu could only have the honor of paying homage to Chenshi in advance because of Zhu Xiurong's glory.
As a result, he can now stand side by side with the prince, which is enough to show that in the heart of Queen Mother Zhou, Chen Ziyu's status is far from being as simple as her great-grandson-in-law.
What's more, on such a special occasion, he was clearly telling all civil and military officials that Chen Ziyu would be Zhu Houzhao's right-hand man in the future!
Chen Rui had been anxiously waiting for Chen Ziyu at the door. When he saw him appearing, he quickly came over and said, "Son, congratulating the Queen Mother on her birthday today is a big event. You must not be careless!"
"Oh, I understand!" Chen Ziyu waved his hand impatiently, then stepped onto the carriage. As if he thought of something, he turned to look at Chen Rui and said, "Dad, where are you assigned?" Time to wish you a happy birthday?"
"Speaking of which, dad has benefited from you, and will join Mr. Zhang when the time comes."
Chen Rui looked proud. As a mere earl, he could only stand behind the crowd and take a look at the Queen Mother from a distance.
But thanks to Chen Ziyu, Chen Rui was arranged to have an audience with several princes, second only to the prince and his party.
"Dad, congratulating the Queen Mother on her birthday today is a big event. You must not make any mistakes!"
After saying a few words with a playful smile, Chen Ziyu quickly got into the carriage and ordered Li Yan to drive quickly.
Chen Rui looked at the carriage that was driving away blankly, and it took him a long time to come back to his senses. He shouted in a dumbfounded voice, "You bastard, even your father dares to tease you!"
...
The carriage creaked and creaked on the street, and the snow on both sides of the road was ordered to be cleared last night.
It is convenient for princes, ministers and ministers to enter the palace to celebrate the birthday of the Queen Mother.
As soon as he entered Zhan Shi's Mansion, Zhu Houzhao immediately greeted him, looked at Chen Ziyu expectantly and said, "Old Chen, you are finally here. Have you brought anything?"
Chen Ziyu smiled, said nothing, and stretched out his hand directly towards Li Yan behind him.
Li Yan immediately untied a package from behind and handed it over respectfully.
Chen Ziyu took the package, patted it, and said brightly: "Your Highness, the stuff is here! It took Yang Huan, Wang Cheng and others with the people from the Western Suburbs Guards to run for half a month to get it! "
"Well done, Old Chen! What a great idea you have!" Zhu Houzhao opened the package impatiently, and what he saw was a shabby-looking robe.
It is densely written with various longevity characters, most of which are written in just a few strokes. At first glance, it seems that they were written by illiterate people.
"Old Chen, my great-grandmother must like this Wanshoupao!"
"That's right, this is the wish of three thousand people in the western suburbs. In addition, the western suburbs guards made several trips to the village where the refugees in the western suburbs were originally located to gather thousands of people to celebrate their birthdays. It was made day and night. When hot Those who are illiterate can only draw a few strokes instead!"
Chen Ziyu said all at once.
In order to prevent Zhu Houzhao from losing face in front of his cousins, especially the old Taoist priests, Chen Ziyu racked his brains to come up with this method.
For rulers from above, the blessings of the people at the bottom, facing the loess and back to the sky, are far more touching than any precious gift.
Especially for the sake of effectiveness, Chen Ziyu deliberately recruited ten thousand people, and these people were all from the hometowns of the workshop refugees in the western suburbs. Even if he really wanted to investigate, it would be based on the real wishes of the people and not fraud.
Chen Ziyu believed that Emperor Hongzhi undoubtedly knew this. After all, he knew the situation in the western suburbs workshops better than anyone else.
Zhu Houzhao rubbed his hands excitedly and said with a smile: "Old Chen, with this, plus soap, cod liver oil, vegetables and other things, we can definitely steal everyone's limelight!"
"Your Highness, don't forget this!" Chen Ziyu smiled mysteriously and took out a small bottle of perfume from his arms.
Chen Ziyu had inquired about Queen Mother Zhou's flowers early on, and then started to develop perfume. In order to celebrate her birthday, Chen Ziyu did all the processes personally, and finally developed several bottles of peony scented perfume.
Rare things are more valuable, so Chen Ziyu only bottled the first one with the strongest aroma, and the rest of the aromas were packed in scattered pieces and stored at home, leaving them for Zhu Xiurong to use in the future.
Zhu Houzhao carefully took the perfume, and under Chen Ziyu's gaze, he slowly opened the cork, and a rich peony aroma emanated from the bottle.
Zhu Houzhao closed his eyes and took a deep breath, exclaiming: "It smells so good!"
"Your Highness, be careful. There is only one bottle of this thing. If it spills, it will be gone!"
Chen Ziyu couldn't help but feel worried when he saw Zhu Houzhao's intoxicated appearance.
"Yes, yes, you are right, Old Chen!" Zhu Houzhao nodded hurriedly, and then shouted to Liu Jin: "Liu Jin, go get some exquisite boxes for me. I will put all the perfume and soap in them." stand up!"
"Yes, Your Highness!"
Liu Jin bowed and retreated!
Then the two got together again and thought about what to say when celebrating a birthday. After all, what you say on such an occasion represents a person's level of accomplishment.
A three-year-old child can go up and say, "Congratulations to the Emperor and the Queen Mother for a long life." But as a teenager, especially the Crown Prince, to say such congratulations is to embarrass the emperor and me!
"Old Chen!"
Zhu Houzhao tugged on Chen Ziyu's sleeves and said calmly:
"My father asked you to teach me academically. It's time to use you now. Come up with a solution for me! Those imperial uncles and masters will be here by then. I can't embarrass my father!"
